Reflection Paper on Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown OR Death of Friends by Michael Nava - Book Report/Review Example

Rubyfruit Jungle – analysis and reflection The book Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown is a semi-autobiographical American work which depicts the character and coming of age of a lesbian girl. It shows the rebellion of the character against gender, class and the identity which has been imposed on her. Born as an illegitimate child she breaks not only the rules of the school but also those of the society. She represents the unconventional and unique identity created out of her independence, and rebellion against the traditional teachings of her mother who tries to “make a lady out of [her]” (Brown, 33).

Molly denies feminine activities like sewing, cooking and cleaning; rather, she is more involved with boyish acts like climbing trees and separating the parts of old cars. She understands the utility of money at a very young age. Her leadership qualities and dominance is prominent in the way she convinces Broccoli with the help of her entrepreneurial talents, regarding the display of his “wad of pink wrinkles” for money (Brown, 4). The fact that she is different from other girls is revealed by the way the others pay to watch his organ with interest while Molly is completely neutral towards the same.

All that interests her is business. One cannot really blame Carrie, Molly’s mother for being terribly upset with her because she thinks in the normal straight way about her daughter and even Molly understands that trying to tell her the truth would be useless. The mother –daughter relation is disturbed by tensions, first by the illegitimate sexual relation between her father and Ruby (her real mother) and then by the lack of faith which is directly related to her origin of birth. This also explains her exceptional orientation towards sexual tie ups.

She follows her individual passion and will, adopts risks and follows her dreams. Molly, according to me, does not merely represent the lesbian character with a different sexual identity, but she also stands for freedom, independence, rejection of superficial traditions and following the path of self perceived justice. Her unmatched egoism makes her position prominent in the novel. She has a world of her own as she cannot match, in term of character, to any community. She brings out some perspectives of radical feminism where perhaps the extremist view of an individual is revealed and hence takes to lesbianism which brings on new challenge in her social life.

While her origin and the rejection of her step mother sets the ground the rest of the work is carried out by her individuality and strength of character. The novel offers a quick read where things change fast for Molly who goes to study in a film school after facing several hindrances and rejection despite working hard for her scholarship in the University of Florida. She plans to make film on real people and real incidents. Her struggles mainly begin when she faces the reality which condemns a lesbian relationship.

Her personal independence and social values contradict at this point when her scholarship is refused for her relationship with her female roommate. This brings out the harsh truth which reveals that if one needs to take the benefits from the society and the community, he or she needs to conform to the social values too. Molly however struggles and swims against the tide to make a niche for herself and try to express the world through her eyes. Work Cited Brown, Rita Mae. Rubyfruit Jungle. Bantam, 1983